New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-02-20
SUPPLEMENT.
PAGES 9 TO IL.
RATIONAL DRESS.
ND WHAT LADY HARBERToN AND Nine
VI" pFEIFFER THINK SUCH

ble to spell correctly. The exclusion Oh HIGH may
imply that their dress is already rational or Po'
hans that tho women think they themselves are
more likely 20 be rational when no men are abont
The woman who spoke up just then and said men
were nasty things, and that they had nothing 10
do with gowns and fashions, was too hasty she Is
onjck: all women are but she was not quick
anough to answer the question. Why then were the
speeches reported in tho daily papersf Men reau
the daily papers and as for men having nothing W
10 with such matters as dress. may quote rag
ment of dialogue from Dumass new play
Francillou:
Stanislas.-Alors. 81 les hommes vous sont ind'he.
rents pourquci avez vous une robe CONNIE celielaI
fraeciae.-Qn' est-ce qu' IL y oe MAI "ah' "A
Sasislas.- II n ren de NAL dams v6tr6 robe,
Vi zen iuge par CO qu IL y IL de bien donors
This fragmen. was not, think, cited at Lady
Harberton's meeting. The cut would have been
too deep, and the critic who practises his surgery
On a woman must asa his knife gently. The report
Of what was said at the Westminster Town Han Is
Interesting, sometimes piquant The report OF
what was worn is neither. 1t Is the old story Here
ia Lady Harberton who, for know not how many
vears has h,rangued the Universe OH this matter
AZ rational dress She has, to the best OF her
ability, prartised what she preached yet she mas
not got beyond what is called the divided garments
, garment whose division. declares tho reporter,
svas not apparent until Intentionally revealed Dy
The wearer." The phrase Is vague How was IL re-
vealeif Did Lady Harberton stride up ana down
,he PLATFORM Did she-but no. l will not multiply
questions 1t has been my privilege to meet ths
excellent lady. saw her some years ago IN draw
lDp.room Her stature attracts attention, anu
when | asked who she was was told, and was
askod II saw anything remarkable III her Dress
could not but | was made to understand that SHE
then had on the divided garment which she vainiy
eommends to the general British female tor adop'
ton and use 1t was not revealed Intentionally OF
otherwise, by the wearer on that OCCASION
There WERE il seems, other practical illustrations
Of rational dress reform on Lady Harberton's plat
form. One lady wore girrs dress suited to the
gymnasium as well as to country walks and she
routine of daily life. Its utility" remarks the
report sr-the reporter must OF course have been
lady Only-sits utility was apparent to tho audi
ence but it made no attempt at beauty" Did the
wearer wonderf There is perverse fate which
or who) attends upon these experiments. and the
odds arc heavy that the wearer OF this glrs dress
10 the gymnasium and 10 the routine OF daily
life, was short and stout. But what can a co tune
with this double adaptability bel We have an idea
what gymnasium dress for giIls ia. 1t is expressed
when worn by men by the words knlckerbo3kers and
tunic. once knew q celebrated beauty who told
me that during her girlhood and even till sho was
seventeen or perhaps eighteen years OF age, She
wore noshng else She lived with her brothers
aud lived their life rowing. swimming riding. l
never dared ask hoe she rode. But this beauty.
smancipated though she was from some conven-
tional prejudices went so far az to say that
abe thought her knickerbockers and tunic were
suited to the routine of daily life In London.
Another lady. Mrs Pfedcr you have heard of
Mrs. PfeiHer) wore-in the opinion OF the female
rsporter-a very graceful modification Of the Greek
dress So did tho merrelleuses in their opinion.
Theirs was a divided garment, with vengeance.
The division began at tue side OF the hip and con-
timed to the foor. third was attired In tho
ordinary costume of tho Chinese woman. Whether
the reporter thought this graceful or not she onts
to tell us, nor is anything said about the size OF
this Anglo Chinawomans feet On the whole. it
does not seem that the men who were excluded
from this exhibition need very much regret It, III
they care for eccentrlcities of costume, they can
CRAFTY that taste by visit to the Savoy Theatre,
where il has pleased Mr. Gilbert to array bis chorus
of bridesmaids in such GARNER IS as were worn IN
England about the beginning of the present
century Something may be said in favor OF almost
any stye. bat Who save Mr.. Gilbert and perhaps
Mr. Boughton, really thinks a woman looks her
best with her waist between her shoulder bladesI
The blame for the defects of womcn's dress be.
longs in Lady Iarbertons opinion, to men. They
are the thors of all female woes. The doctors are
no bette: than the dresSmakers, and the garments
Of hospital nurses are sternly condemned by her
As the fashionable frocks devised by the great
Worth. Things are bad now and have never been
any better. There have been changes Ia small
details but real progress. AS for her own
divided garment, Lady Harberton, modestly but
with singular taste in metaphors, described 1t as
simply a sca1olling on which she hoped Others
would build. Sue scolded the doctor who said
woman's waist was round. The true shape. In the
opinion of this reormcr, is an eilipse be the true
shape or the actual shape what it may, the female
waist ought not to be made to support mass OF dry
gools: no, not even with the hips to help On thi,
point her ladyshipi clear. Perhaps the remark
has been heard before. Nor ought the hips to be
compressed by clothing" The effect is to shorten
the STEP and the effect Of shortening womans
step is that double the distance Is walked over
the same ground" Here suspected an error In the
text, but on looking into a Pcerage i discovered
that Lady Harberton was born in Malone House.
County Antrim, and apologize to the reporter for
doubting her accuracy. Nor is il discreet to set
limits TO what this female orator will a.le0e. She
proclaimed +, her audience on Wednesday that
swomen have totally reversed the whole idea OF
their own body; whereas the larger and moro solid
portion the upper they have arranged that the
larger and solid portion of their attire should
DO the lower" What will the anatomists and
PSYCHOLOGISTS say to this view of the structure Of
the female framei Nothing probably. and shall
say nothing for cannot venture to suppose that ]
am Writing to ladies only. Bat does Lady Harder
ton hope TO persuade her own sex so to adjust their
raiment that their shoulders let us ayshali DO the
broadest part of the Gsurei She or perhaps ss as
Mrs Pfeiifer, advised US all to go to the British
Museum and look upon the types of female beauty
which tho Greeks bave eft. Some of Us have been
An. In a
treated ON this novel theory Of this titled dress
eeformers
Mon. it must be said, though absent in the body
were present to the minds OF tho women in West